BACK

Designing Mobility

The concept of auto-designing is yet to make its mark in the Indian market. Ten years ago, when Rajesh Mirajker of Madras decided to take up automobile designing as his chosen vocation, people were amazed. A student of NID Ahmedabad, even the faculty there were surprised by his choice, and he was crowned 'petrolhead' for his obsession with cars.

He topped his NID degree with one from the Art Center College of Design, Switzerland. In the last 10 years, Mirajker (32) has not only earned himself a reputation for his innovative designs, but has also bagged a number of international awards. His concept 'Megha', planned on the mechanicals and format of a Bajaj 3-wheeler (autorickshaw) assured him the Grand Prize of the International Car Design Competition at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 1991. In Megha, he had incorporated alternatives of multi-role utility in an inexpensive base vehicle.

Since then, Mirajker's designs have received a number of contracts from the bigwigs of the Indian automobile industry, including TVS, Hindustan Motors, TAFE, and Ashok Leyland. In 1995, he again received the award of excellence in the Tokyo Motor Show. Mirajker operates from his two-room studio in Egmore, under the seal of 'Mirajker Designs', spending the better part of his day at the drawing board.

He, however, has not restricted his designs to passenger cars. Broadly classifying his work as transportation designing, he designs anything from earth movers and tractors to buses and cars. Each of his projects could take anything from six months to two years. The company approaches him with the concept and specifications, and from then on it is his baby. His latest design is the bus coach for TVS which has already attracted over 70 bookings. The coach includes a non-slip special floormat, swing type electro-pneumatically operated door, aircraft type luggage rack and roof luggage carrier with protective hood. Mirajker only deals with the aesthetics and body designing of the automobiles. Engine control and other mechanical operations are taken care of by the company's engineering team. "In a development process, industrial designing activity complements engineering, and is a blending of skills that combines the emotions of an artist, the precision of an engineer and the practical experience of a manufacturing expert," he says.

The priority of his designs is to sublimate highly creative aesthetics and funtionality into the product. Economy, ‘manufacturability’ and ‘marketability’ also figure high on the list of priorities. Reacting strongly to the deluge of foreign cars into the country, Mirajker feels that the foreign market dumps outdated goods here. Moreover, in India, few companies are willing to invest in research and development. The Indian market's not as progressive as the foreign one, but is slowly meandering towards it.

‘Mirajker Design’ has not limited itself to the roads. A microlight aircraft, on a trial basis, has also been designed. Not all his designs see the light of day, or the feel of the roads. Some of the projects are not followed up by the company. He had also been working on a motorcycle model for the late Karivardhan. This project unfortunately had to be terminated.

Apart from designing the whole body of the vehicle, he takes up component designing too. Take the bumper design, or the dash board - they are as demanding and complicated as whole automobile designing, he says. What he refuses to do, but recognises as a talent, is customisation - ‘plastic surgery’ as he calls it. There are a number of persons operating in this area. Branded cars are remodelled to suit the specific tastes of the owner - a Maruti 800 with added on bumpers, just to give it a unique look. This is very much in vogue. He would rather retain the vehicle in its original form, and has done nothing to his own Maruti 1000 to give it a Mirajker touch, apart from driving it.

His plans for the future? ‘Quite modest’ - designing proper, affordable cars and not high-end cars. And then? Plans for low volume production.